UK Championship

As we build-up to the start of the 2015 Betway UK Championship in a couple of weeks time, last year’s runner-up Judd Trump and reigning world champion Stuart Bingham caught up with West Ham duo Andy Carroll and Carl Jenkinson for a special Snooker Shoot-out.

You can watch the video above and click here for more photos at the website of official tournament sponsor Betway.

Today saw the entry deadline pass for the upcoming UK Championship event and with it confirmation that Ronnie O’Sullivan will not return to the Barbican Centre in York this year to defend the title that he won nearly 12 months ago.

Just a few days on from the final balls being potted in York at this year’s UK Championship, already eyes are very much fixed on the future, with the professional stages of the Lisbon Open set to get underway on Friday and the drawsheets being released for both the German Masters and World Seniors qualifiers yesterday.

Before we move on to Lisbon though, a few final thoughts from my fortnight at the Barbican Centre…

21 years after his first UK Championship victory, Ronnie O’Sullivan has tonight defeated Judd Trump to claim his fifth UK title and the top prize of £150,000, but he was certainly made to work hard for it here in York as Trump fought back from 9-4 down to force a deciding frame, before O’Sullivan managed to get over the line…